A civil rights group combating anti-semitism formally requested the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate a nonprofit supporting anti-Israel groups allegedly linked to violent protests on Wednesday.
The Zachor Legal Institute — a Montana-based legal think tank and advocacy organization — wrote a letter to acting IRS Commissioner Michael Faulkender alleging that the Westchester People’s Action Coalition (WESPAC) Foundation violated multiple legal requirements for tax-exempt status by providing fiscal sponsorship to Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a group accused of advocating for political violence, Jewish Insider reported.
WESPAC, based in White Plains, New York, describes itself as a “leading force for progressive social change,” focusing on “educating, agitating, and organizing for a more just and peaceful world, an end to militarism and racism, and a more fair economy that works for all,” according to its website.
“Through its fiscal sponsorship of Within Our Lifetime, a violent, radical and anti-Israel organization, WESPAC may have violated both the public policy doctrine and the illegality doctrine that the IRS uses to analyze and discern whether a 501(c)(3) charitable organization can maintain their tax-exempt status,” alleged Zachor’s president, Marc Greendorfer, in the complaint.
The public policy doctrine allows the IRS to deny or revoke tax-exempt status for an organization if its purpose or activities violate fundamental public policy, and the illegality doctrine prevents an organization from qualifying for or maintaining tax-exempt status if it engages in illegal activities, according to the complaint. As a fiscal sponsor, WESPAC can administer the tax-exempt contributions it receives to sponsored organizations, like Within Our Lifetime (WOL), which are not obligated to register with the IRS, according to the National Council of Nonprofits.
The IRS declined to comment on Zachor’s complaint.
WOL advocates using “any means necessary” to achieve what it calls the liberation of Palestine from the “genocidal apartheid state of Israel.” Just two days after the Oct. 7 attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas terrorists, the group organized an “Emergency Rally for Gaza,” urging supporters to “defend the heroic Palestinian resistance, honor our martyrs and let the world know that NYC stands with Gaza!”
“In almost every ‘protest’ that WOL is involved in there are acts of vandalism, violence, calls for violence, and calls for the destruction of the United States and Israel,” Zachor alleged in its letter to the IRS. “Through its advocacy for widespread deaths of Jewish people and their call to armed action in support of this advocacy, WOL may be in violation of several provisions of the United States Code.”
Neither WESPAC nor WOL responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
“The portions of the tax code related to nonprofits were set up to allow organizations that provide education and public benefits to be able to do their work without having their income diluted by the tax man,” Greendorfer told the Jewish Insider. “However, taxpayers should not be forced to support organizations that sow public discord, fund violent protests or promote vandalism and property damage.”
WESPAC was included in a request made by House Ways and Means Committee members last year to the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status for its sponsorships of organizations that allegedly violated local ordinances. In addition to WOL, WESPAC has sponsored numerous other organizations tied to anti-Israel demonstrations, including the Palestinian Youth Movement, National Students for Justice in Palestine, and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.
WESPAC is currently facing multiple legal challenges, having been sued in multiple courts, including in New York, California, and Illinois, according to the Times of Israel. Emails to WESPAC supporters obtained by the outlet suggest that the foundation might be facing financial difficulties.
“WESPAC’s work has taken on enormous significance since October 7, 2023, as the injustice of apartheid has turned to genocide in Gaza,” one email said.“The well-funded forces of darkness are now waging legal warfare against us. The threat to WESPAC’s survival is real.”
Since 2019, WESPAC has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from major left-of-center foundations like Rockefeller Philanthropic Advisors, the El Gaouny & Lee Foundation, the Bafrayung Fund, Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust, The Community Foundation For Greater Atlanta, the Common Counsel Foundation, Grassroots International, the Groundswell Fund and the Elias Foundation.
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